Section F. 

 ETHNOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY. 



1.— SMOKE SIGNALS OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 

 By A. T. MAGAREY. 



The discovery that no systematic effort had been made to gather 

 and place in order the facts relating- to the smoke sig-nals of the 

 Australian aborigines induced me to select this as the subject for 

 a paper for the Section of Ethnology and Anthropology at this 

 Science Congress. As the investigation and record of facts 

 progressed the field constantly widened. Much information has 

 been gleaned that cannot be presented in the limits of this paper ; 

 very much still remains to be gathered which it is most desirable 

 should be conserved. The greatest obstacle in the way of 

 obtaining the information required is the proud racial reticence of 

 the natives themselves. The old men of the tribes, the priestly 

 custodians of their tribal mysteries and secrets, guard most 

 zealously, even from the younger men amongst their own race, the 

 traditions and special knowledge confided to their charge. But 

 now that this investigation has been initiated this priestly hesitancy 

 may, perchance, be overcome, and interesting divulgences of their 

 hoarded seci'ets be obtained from these wise old men. 



The investigation has demonstrated that amongst EuropeanvS 

 very little was known of the existence amongst ihe Australian 

 natives of any system of smoke signalling ; whilst their wonderful 

 proficiency in the art was known to only a very small circle of the 

 white men The information presented has been very carefull}- 

 tested, has been accepted only from entirely reliable sources, and 

 the most valuable and interesting facts have been supplied by eye- 

 witnesses of Avhat they describe, or who were in the localities at 

 the time of their occurrence. The chief witnesses are men who 

 have been members of some of the most famous Australian 

 exploring expeditions, or have themselves been explorers of good 

 experience, or bushmen who have been in contact with the 

 aborigine in his wild state, and who from long experience were 

 able to testify intelligently of what they had seen. So that there 

 is no room to question the authenticity of the facts. The novelty 

 and seeming incredibility of some of the statements demand this 

 explanation in advance. Anyone at all acquainted with the 

 exceeding inflammability of most of our Australian flora will, upon 



